Geliboluludur. Erzurum defterdârlığından ma'zûl iken Künhü'l-Ahbâr'ında kendisinin yazdığı üzere Sultân Mehmed'e takdîm eylediği kasîde-i cülûsiyyesinin bir câ'izesi olarak 1003 senesi şevvâlinin gurresinde Amasya sancağı beyi olup geldi.
Yukarıda yazılan Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa'nın cem'iyyeti gitdikçe nazar-ı dikkati celb etmeğe başladı. Köprü voyvodası Durak Ağa bunların [341] def' ve tenkîline me'mûr oldu. Durak Ağa, sipâhî çavuşlarından olup "Kıbleli Duracan Çavuş" demekle meşhûr idi.
1004 senesi ramazânının gurresinde Amasya müftüsü Tâceddîn Efendi infisâl eylediğinden yerine Malgaralı Köse Ahmed Efendi Amasya müftüsü ve Sultâniyye müderrisi olup geldi. Diyârbekir beylerbeyi Husrev Paşa da Sivas beylerbeyi oldu. Çünkü şekâvet her tarafda artmışdı.
Bu şekâvet değil kuvvetli bir ihtilâldi. 829 târîhinde "Rûmeli vak'ası" demekle meşhûr ihtilâlden daha şedîd olacağı anlaşılıyordu. Çünkü bütün tımâr ve ze'âmet, Türkler'den ziyâde gayr-i Türkler'e verilmekde idi. Türkler'e vezâret kânûnen memnû' gibi olmuşdu.
Bütün makâm-ı iktidâr gayr-i Türkler'e münhasırdı. Türkler ancak uzak yâhud küçük vilâyetlere beylerbeyi olabiliyordu. Dîvân-ı hümâyûnda bir tek Türk vezîr yokdu. Defterdârlıkdan, nişâncılıkdan yetişen Türk vezîrler ender olmakla beraber sadâretden mahrûm idiler.
Fireng İbrâhim Paşa'nın sadâretinden bu zamâna kadar makâm-ı sadâreti, vezâreti ihrâz edenler gayr-i Türkler'di. Türklük aleyhinde söylenilen hezeyânların, uydurulan efsânelerin hepsi de gayr-i Türkler'den sudûr etmiş, riyâkârların gayretiyle revâc bulmuşdu.
Anadolu'da Türkler, gayr-i Türkler'in bu tahakkümlerine karşı kıyâm ediyorlar, taraf taraf ihtilâl bayrağını açıyorlardı. Beğenilmeyen [342] softalar işte bu millî ihtilâlin alemdârı olmuşlardı. Gelikli Mahmûd kıyâm eden softaların başbuğu idi.
Şâyân-ı dikkatdir ki Anadolu sancaklarına, vilâyetlerine mîrlivâ, beylerbeyi olarak gönderilen gayr-i Türkler içinde Türkçeyi bilmeyen, akâ'id-i İslâmiyyeden bîhaber, koyu câhil adamlar da vardı.
Çünkü devşirmelerden vezîr olanlar, Hristiyân babalarını, kardaşlarını, hısımlarını kabûl-i İslâm etdikleri günden i'tibâren mîrlivâ, beylerbeyi yapdırıyorlardı. Bunlar ancak mütesellimleriyle idâre-i umûr-ı hükûmet ederek pek çok yolsuzluklar yapıyorlar, Türkler'i son derece kızdırıyorlardı.
Hele za'îmler, sipâhîler ekseriyetle gayr-i Türkler'di. Hâlbuki tımâr ve ze'âmet Anadolu'da Türkler'e hâs bir dirlikdi. Gayr-i Türkler'in nazarında Türkler re'âyâdandı. Türkler'in en ziyâde gücüne giden gayr-i Türkler'in tahakküm ve istibdâdı idi.
Vaktiyle Kur'ân-ı Kerîm'in emr etdiği müsâvâtı, hizmetleri mukâbilinde mükâfâtı taleb eden, bu uğurda yüksek sesleriyle bağıran gayr-i Türkler makâm-ı iktidârı elde etdikleri günden i'tibâren Türkler'e müsâvât yerine tahkîrât, mükâfât yerine mu'âdât ile mukâbele etdiler.
Bundan dolayı Türkler, gayr-i Türkler'e karşı isyân etmişler, ihtilâl bayrağını açmışlardı. Gayr-i Türkler'e bu kadar yüksek makâmlar veren Osmanlı hânedânı da kıyâm eden Türkler'in nazarında küçülmüşlerdi. [343] Hattâ Osmanlı hânedânı bile gayr-i Türkler'in bu tahakküm ve istibdâdından bîzâr olmuşlardı.
Amasya beyi Âlî Bey âlim, fâzıl, müverrih bir zât idi. Fakat her tarafda zuhûr eden erbâb-ı ihtilâle karşı âciz kalmışdı. Bunun için Âlî Bey 1005 senesi evâ'ilinde Kayseriyye'ye nakl edildi. Yerine Bâlî Bey gönderildi.
In Modern English
He was from Gallipoli. Dismissed from the treasurership of Erzurum, as he himself writes in his work Künhü'l-Ahbâr, as a reward for the accession ode (cülus kasidesi) he presented to Sultan Mehmed, he came as sanjak bey of Amasya at the beginning of Shawwal of the year 1003 [1595].
The band of the above-mentioned Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa began to draw attention day by day. Durak Ağa, the voivode of Köprü, was assigned to disperse and punish them. Durak Ağa was one of the sipahi çavuşes and was known as "Kıbleli Duracan Çavuş."
At the beginning of the month of Ramadan of the year 1004 [1596], when the mufti of Amasya, Tâceddîn Efendi, left office, Köse Ahmed Efendi of Malgara came in his place as mufti of Amasya and professor of the Sultâniyye. Hüsrev Pasha, beylerbeyi of Diyarbekir, also became beylerbeyi of Sivas. For banditry had increased everywhere.
This was an uprising too strong to be counted as ordinary banditry. It was understood that it would be more violent than the uprising famous in the year 829 [1425–26] as the "Rumeli incident." For all the timars and zeamets were being given to non-Turks rather than to Turks. The vizierate had become, as it were, forbidden to Turks by law.
All the seats of power had been set aside for non-Turks. Turks could become beylerbeyi only in distant or small provinces. There was not a single Turkish vizier in the imperial council (divan-ı hümayun). Although Turkish viziers raised from the treasury or the chancery were few, they were deprived of the grand vizierate.
From the grand vizierate of Frenk İbrahim Pasha to this time, all those who came to the office of grand vizier and vizier were non-Turks. All the absurd things said against Turkishness and the legends invented had come from non-Turks and had spread through the zeal of hypocrites.
In Anatolia the Turks were rising against this pressure of the non-Turks and raising the banner of rebellion everywhere. The disliked softas had become the standard-bearers of this national uprising. Gelikli Mahmud was the chieftain of the rebel softas.
It is noteworthy that among the non-Turks sent to the sanjaks and provinces of Anatolia as mirliva and beylerbeyi there were also profoundly ignorant persons who did not know Turkish and were unaware of the tenets of Islam.
For those of the devshirme who became viziers had their Christian fathers, brothers and relatives made mirliva and beylerbeyi from the day they became Muslim. These conducted the affairs of state only through their deputies, the mütesellims, committed a great many abuses, and angered the Turks extremely.
In particular the zeamet holders and sipahis were mostly non-Turks. Yet timar and zeamet in Anatolia were a source of livelihood set aside for the Turks. In the eyes of the non-Turks the Turks were counted as reaya. What most offended the Turks was the pressure and tyranny of the non-Turks.
The non-Turks who had once demanded the equality commanded by the Holy Qur'an and rewards in return for services, and who had cried out loudly for this, from the day they seized the seats of power answered the Turks with contempt instead of equality and with hostility instead of reward.
For this reason the Turks had rebelled against the non-Turks and raised the banner of uprising. The Ottoman dynasty, which gave such high offices to the non-Turks, had also shrunk in the eyes of the rebel Turks. Even the Ottoman dynasty itself had grown weary of this pressure and tyranny of the non-Turks.
The bey of Amasya, Âlî Bey, was a scholar, a man of learning and a historian. But he had been left powerless against the supporters of the uprising appearing everywhere. For this reason Âlî Bey was transferred to Kayseri at the beginning of 1005 [1596–97]. Bâlî Bey was sent in his place.
Notes and Research
Old Words in the Text
- ma'zûl: dismissed from office
- kasîde-i cülûsiyye: praise poem written for the sultan's accession (accession ode)
- câ'ize: reward, gratuity
- gurre: the first day, the beginning of the month
- cem'iyyet: community, crowd
- def' ve tenkîl: dispersing and punishing
- infisâl: leaving office
- şekâvet: banditry
- ihtilâl: uprising, rebellion
- tımâr ve ze'âmet: shares of land whose revenue the holder was permitted to use in return for state service; their holders were sipahis and zeamet holders
- mîrlivâ: sanjak bey
- mütesellim: deputy who administers a sanjak or region in the name of its actual governor
- re'âyâ: the tax-paying populace
- devşirme: those collected from the children of Christian families and trained for state service
- softa: madrasa student
- mu'âdât: hostility
Who Is Âlî Mustafa Efendi
Âlî Mustafa Efendi, in the entry's title, is one of the well-known names of Ottoman historiography. He was born in Gallipoli in 1541, occupied himself with poetry and prose, and produced a great many works. Throughout his life he could never reach the high offices he longed for. He mostly served in treasurer and secretary posts; he held the treasurerships of Erzurum, Baghdad and Sivas, and in 1592 became janissary secretary and in the same year defter emini. Hüsameddin's "dismissed from the treasurership of Erzurum," considered together with the information in the sources, may point to Âlî's Erzurum post of 1585. During that post Âlî was influential in the training of the poet Nef'î and gave him that pen name.
The sources have this information on his coming to Amasya: Âlî had asked the new sultan Mehmed III for the treasurership of Egypt, which he hoped would be rich in books. When the influential aghas of the harem blocked this, he settled for the sanjak beylik of Amasya together with the treasurership of Rum. After some time he was removed from the treasurership of Rum (September 1595) because the kapıkulu soldiers with him oppressed the people, and was transferred from Amasya to Kayseri. Hüsameddin, however, puts his transfer to Kayseri at the beginning of 1005, that is, autumn 1596. There appears to be a difference in the sources about the exact date of this assignment, and this contradiction has not been definitively resolved.
Âlî's most important work is Künhü'l-Ahbâr, which he wrote between 1591 and 1599. The work consists of four parts; the last covers Ottoman history and the life stories of statesmen, scholars and poets. Hüsameddin's mentioning "as he himself writes" agrees with Âlî's liking to recount in his works his own posts and the verses he presented. But the link between the accession ode and the Amasya beylik we could not verify in another source in this study. Âlî died, probably in that year, at the beginning of 1600, in the place where he had gone as sanjak bey of Jeddah.
The Text's Main Idea and Hüsameddin's Interpretation
In the entry the space given to Âlî Bey's tenure is short; the main weight is in the long assessment that follows. Hüsameddin interprets the banditry around Amasya as a Turkish versus non-Turkish conflict. According to him the high offices are in the hands of those of devshirme origin, while the Turks are rising to seek their rights. This interpretation reflects the understanding of history of the 1920s, when the book was written, and is peculiar to Hüsameddin.
Today's research explains the Celali movements in a more multifaceted way. A great number of idle young men, peasants who abandoned their farms and fled, tax pressure, the debased akçe, the spread of the musket and the Ottoman–Austrian wars are counted among the causes. According to the same studies, the Celali leaders of this period were mostly persons who came from within the state organization and had been dismissed from office, rightly or wrongly. For this reason, the events Hüsameddin relates are one thing and his interpreting them as an ethnic struggle is another; the second is the author's own view and should be read as such.
We could not find information in another source about "Gelikli Mahmud," who is named at the end of the text. Names such as the mufti Tâceddîn Efendi, Köse Ahmed Efendi, Durak Ağa and Yaramaz Ahmed Ağa are in the same situation. No information other than what Hüsameddin transmits was found about them.
Bibliography
Primary sources
- Abdîzâde Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar, Amasya Tarihi, Amasya Belediyesi Kültür Yayınları, 2022, vol. 3, pp. 518–519. amasya.bel.tr
Academic studies
Books
- Ömer Faruk Akün, "Âlî Mustafa Efendi", TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, same entry, section on the literary side.